HFSC to Hold Hearings on Decentralized Finance, ESG Standards

Subcommittees of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold two hearings on Sept. 10, with one focused on decentralized finance and the other looking at environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

HFSC Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., announced these scheduled hearings in a Tuesday (Sept. 3) press release, adding that additional information will be released as the hearing date nears.

Both hearings were rescheduled from their previously announced dates of July 30, according to the release. The postponements were announced in a July 24 press release.

The Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee will hold the hearing titled, “Decoding DeFi: Breaking Down the Future of Decentralized Finance,” according to the Tuesday release.

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will host the hearing called, “The Fall of ESG: Scrutinizing the Failed Use of Environmental, Social & Governance Standards and the Influence of Proxy Advisors, per the release.

For each of the two hearings, a livestream, committee memo, relevant legislation and witness list will be posted at those links, closer to the hearing date, the release said.

On Aug. 1, the Republican Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Working Group, which is led by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., released a final staff report on ESG initiatives that included recommendations “to protect American capital markets from the threats posed by these politically minded mandates,” an HFSC press release said at the time.

“As chairman of the ESG Working Group, I believe our work has helped bring to light how vitally important it is to empower everyday investors,” Huizenga said in the release. “This report not only advances the conversation but delivers tangible solutions to increase transparency and accountability surrounding the shareholder and proxy process.”

On the topic of financial innovations, McHenry said in February that he was reintroducing legislation aimed at fostering innovation in financial services by establishing federal regulatory sandboxes that let entrepreneurs test new products and services while ensuring consumer protections.

“Budding FinTech firms currently operate in fear of heavy-handed penalties brought down by regulators that have failed to work with Congress to provide clear rules of the road,” McHenry said at the time. “That’s why I’m reintroducing the Financial Services Innovation Act.”